Bears are looking for Insight

Published 4:00 am, Monday, November 24, 2003

Having assured itself its first bowl berth in seven years and its highest conference finish in 12 years, Cal can sit back and consider other issues, such as: In what bowl will Cal play, and who will its opponent be? Can Cal retain coach Jeff Tedford?

The short answer to the bowl question is that Cal probably will wind up in Phoenix in the Dec. 26 Insight Bowl against a Big East team, with Pittsburgh, Miami or Boston College being the most likely opponents. The Insight Bowl is a pretty good bet for Cal whether or not USC beats Oregon State on Dec. 6, although a USC victory virtually assures an Insight berth for the Bears.

If USC beats the Beavers in two weeks, the Trojans probably would play in the Sugar Bowl, the national-championship game. Washington State's loss presumably would leave the Rose Bowl without a Pac-10 team, and, as a result, the Rose Bowl probably would match Michigan against Texas or the Southeastern Conference champ, especially if it's Louisiana State.

The Holiday Bowl gets the second-place Pac-10 team, which is Washington State, and the Sun Bowl gets the third-place team. Cal and Oregon would be tied for third, and the Sun Bowl probably would take the Ducks (8-4), who would have a better overall record and a win over the Bears. That would leave Cal in the Insight Bowl, Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl, and either UCLA or Washington in the Silicon Valley Classic against Fresno State. UCLA would probably get the nod, because of its television market and its lopsided victory over the Huskies. Washington probably would be left out of the bowl picture.

If USC loses to the Beavers, USC would go to the Rose Bowl against Michigan, and Washington State would go to the Holiday Bowl. Oregon State, Oregon and Cal would be tied for third, with the Sun Bowl getting its choice of the three and likely to take Oregon. The Insight Bowl gets the next pick, and although the Beavers would have a better overall record and a win over Cal,

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the Insight Bowl would be reluctant to take Oregon State because the Beavers played in last year's Insight Bowl. That leaves Cal with the Insight berth and Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl, which would be a good fit because OSU star running back Steven Jackson is from Las Vegas.

If the Insight Bowl pulls a surprise and takes an 8-4 Oregon State team over Cal, the Bears would land in the Las Vegas Bowl against New Mexico. UCLA would still be the likely choice in the Silicon Valley Classic.

-- Assuming Cal plays in the Insight Bowl, its opponent will be determined by Saturday's Miami-Pittsburgh game. If Miami wins that game, Cal's Insight opponent probably would be Pittsburgh (and Heisman Trophy candidate Larry Fitzgerald), with Boston College also being a possible choice. If Pittsburgh wins Saturday, Miami is the likely Cal opponent.

-- The Miami-Pittsburgh game and the Insight Bowl's choice also impacts the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl, which probably will match Colorado State (and quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt) against Pittsburgh or Boston College in its Dec. 31 game at Pacific Bell Park.

-- By the way, Washington probably cost itself (and every other Pac-10 school) nearly $500,000 by beating Washington State on Saturday. That outcome presumably knocked WSU out of the Rose Bowl, preventing the Pac-10 team from getting two BCS berths. A second BCS berth would have earned the conference an extra $6 million, or close to it. After expenses were deducted for the bowl team, that amount would have been divided evenly among the 10 Pac-10 schools.

Also, Notre Dame, which plays at Stanford on Saturday, had its bowl chances end when Boston College beat Virginia Tech.

Tedford appeal: Tedford is a hot coaching commodity and one Cal dearly wants to keep.

Picked to finish 10th last season, the Bears wound up tied for fourth in the Pac-10. Picked eighth this year, the Bears ended tied for third.

With the exception of their 1991 season, when the Bears finished tied for second, this is Cal's highest conference finish since 1975, when Chuck Muncie helped Cal tie for the Pac-8 title.

Cal renegotiated Tedford's contract after last season when several schools, including Kentucky, made a run at him. Will Cal need to renegotiate Tedford's deal again, with four years left on the current contract?

"It all depends on circumstances, and if circumstances demand it," Cal athletic director Steve Gladstone said after Saturday's game, "but at this juncture I assume Jeff is content. I'll accept that until I'm convinced otherwise."

Cal's win Saturday was worth an additional $150,000 for Tedford, who received a $50,000 incentive bonus for getting a bowl berth and $100,000 more for getting a fifth Pac-10 victory. That brings Tedford's income this season to about $875,000.

His contract also has a $1 million buyout clause for this year, meaning that a school that hires Tedford away would have to pay Cal $1 million.

His only concern now is a bowl game, which will be Cal's first since losing to Navy in the 1996 Aloha Bowl. The Bears have not won a bowl game since 1993, when Cal beat Iowa in the Alamo Bowl.